Azimah Hamzah’s appeal was dismissed by a three-member bench presided by Kamaludin Md Said, Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera and Gunalan Muniandy.
Vazeer, who delivered the decision virtually, said the court agreed with the High Court judge’s findings in concluding that Azimah was not a stateless person.
He said the appellate court did not find any error in the findings of the High Court, which held that Azimah had failed to establish the burden of proof that she was not born a citizen of any country, adding that there was some evidence that her father was a Cambodian national at the time of her birth.
He added that the two provisions in the Federal Constitution – Article 14(1)(b) and Section 1(e) of Part II of the Second Schedule, which would enable a person to obtain Malaysian citizenship – did not apply to Azimah.
Vazeer said the court took note of the fact that Azimah’s parents and siblings had acquired Malaysian citizenship, and Azimah had another option to get citizenship by way of naturalisation under Article 19 of the constitution.
Azimah’s parents became permanent residents in November 1986 and obtained citizenship via Article 19 in 2008. Her eldest sister, who was born outside of Malaysia, obtained citizenship through Article 15A in 2008 under special circumstances, while her four younger siblings became Malaysians after their parents obtained citizenship.
“We empathise with her predicament, nevertheless the door is not closed. It is still open to her to apply for citizenship by naturalisation if the legal requirements are met to the satisfaction of the authorities,” the judge said.
Azimah, who wanted to be recognised as a Malaysian, contended that she was a stateless person with no Cambodian citizenship and had lived her whole life in Malaysia.
She filed a judicial review application in 2019 naming the National Registration Department (JPN) director-general, the home ministry and the government seeking various court orders, including a declaration to be recognised as a Malaysian citizen and for the issuance of a citizenship certificate and the MyKad.
She did not succeed in her judicial review which was dismissed by the High Court in 2020, prompting her to appeal to the Court of Appeal.